Page 132 - The Welfare of Cattle

ChaPter 11

Providing assurance that Cattle
have a reasonably Good Life

Jennifer Walker
Director Milk Quality, Danone North America
Marina A. G. von Keyserlingk
University of British Columbia

CONteNtS

Introduction ....................................................................................................................................109
Developing Animal Welfare Standards and Providing Assurance ................................................. 111
Animal Welfare Legislation ...................................................................................................... 111
Industry Led Animal Welfare Standards ................................................................................... 112
Audits ............................................................................................................................................. 113
What Is an Audit? ...................................................................................................................... 113
What Makes a Good Audit? A Case Study: Development of the North American Meat
Institute (NAMI) Audit .............................................................................................................. 114
Audit Certification ..................................................................................................................... 115
Who Sets the Standards That Are Used in the Audit? ............................................................... 115
The Role of Benchmarking and Professionalism ...................................................................... 117
Future Challenges .......................................................................................................................... 118
Final Thoughts ............................................................................................................................... 119
Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................... 119
References ...................................................................................................................................... 119

INtrODUCtION

The topic of farm animal welfare is a consequence of a social movement that began in the
early 1960s in the United Kingdom following the publication of Ruth Harrison’s book “Animal
Machines” in 1964. In her book, she voiced concerns about the lives led by farm animals, particu-
larly laying hens, broilers and veal calves, and housing environments where animals were prevented
from seeing the sun. The UK public’s outcry in response to her book resulted in the UK government
initiating an investigation that culminated in the publication of The Brambell Report (1965) titled
“Report of the Technical Committee to Enquire into the Welfare of Animals Kept under Intensive
Livestock Husbandry Systems.” In his report Professor Brambell argued that farm animal agricul-
ture was based on standards of care and housing that were morally unacceptable by the public and

109